James Mueller (mayor)
James Mueller is an American politician serving as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2020. Prior to being elected in 2019, Mueller held positions within the administration of his predecessor Pete Buttigieg.
Early life and career
Mueller was born June 29, 1982 to Thomas and Sarah Mueller. He was raised in the River Park–Sunnymede neighborhood of South Bend. He lived on Hoover Avenue near Potawatomi Park. He was one of five children. His father, Thomas, was a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Notre Dame, and his mother, Sarah, was a teacher, homemaker and social service coordinator at the YWCA.Education
Mueller attended elementary school at St. Anthony de Padua School and was classmates with Sean M. Haas, who later became his opponent in the 2019 mayoral general election. He was also classmates with Pete Buttigieg at St. Joseph High School, where Mueller graduated in 2000.In 2004, Mueller graduated with a bachelors degree from the University of Notre Dame, triple majoring in mathematics, history, and philosophy. Mueller went onto to study ocean sciences and engineering at the University of Delaware, where he bypassed the graduate program and earned his PhD in oceanography.
Professional career
Mueller worked at George Washington University’s Solar Institute in Washington, D.C., ultimately serving as its director.Mueller also worked in the office of Senator Maria Cantwell for four years, first as a John A. Knauss Legislative Fellow, and later as a policy advisor on energy and natural resources.
Work in the Buttigieg administration
In July 2015, Mueller returned to South Bend and became the chief of staff to mayor Pete Buttigieg. This opportunity came after the resignation of Buttigieg's previous chief of staff, Kathryn Roos.Among the projects he was involved in as chief of staff was the creation of South Bend's Department of Venues, Parks and Arts as well as its Department of Innovation and Technology.
On April 24, 2017, Mueller stepped down as chief of staff to assume a new position, becoming the city's director of community investment.
Mueller left his position in city government during his mayoral campaign to avoid ethics conflicts.
2019 mayoral campaign
On December 17, 2018, Buttigieg announced that he would not be seeking reelection to a third term. On January 22, 2019, Mueller announced his candidacy for mayor. This was Mueller's first bid for elected office. At the time he launched his campaign, Mueller lacked name recognition.Mueller's campaign closely tied him with Buttigieg, and promised to build upon the progress made during Buttigieg's tenure. He pledged to continue many of the policies and programs implemented by Buttigieg. His slogan was, "Keep South Bend Moving Forward." Buttigieg endorsed Mueller in February.
Mueller's campaign manager was Kacey Gergely.
On May 7, Mueller won a crowded primary to capture the Democratic nomination. In the November 5 general election, Mueller defeated Republican nominee Sean M. Haas.
Mayoralty
Transition
After being elected mayor, Mueller worked to fill positions on his staff.Mueller expressed a view as mayor-elect that, while South Bend had made tremendous progress under Buttigieg, it was not yet entirely "back", stating, “After decades of decline, we finally turned the corner, but we are not where we want to be as a community. There are a lot of people that haven’t experienced the growth yet.” This was in contrast with Buttigieg's farewell speech as mayor before the Common Council, in which Buttigieg had declared that, "South Bend is back".
As mayor-elect, Mueller expressed his view that public safety would be his top priority upon becoming mayor. He declared that, in order to help the entirety of the South Bend community to experience growth, the city would need to address issues in its public safety system. He expressed an eagerness to see the pending results of a study being conducted by the national police consulting group 21st Century Policing on the matter. He declared that he intended to discuss the results of the study, once it completed, with police leadership, as well as discussing the department policy regarding body cameras. Mueller also expressed his desire to create a working group consisting of people that have an interest in the relationship between South Bend's community and its police force. He expressed hope that such a working group could include community members and members of the Fraternal Order of Police.
As mayor-elect, Mueller had supported Dawn Jones to remain as South Bend City Clerk. Jones had been temporarily serving as City Clerk since winning a Democratic party caucus vote in August to replace Kareemah Fowler, after Fowler had resigned as City Clerk in 2019 to become chief financial officer at South Bend Community School Corporation. However, Fowler had resigned as City Clerk too late to remove her name from the ballot for reelection in the 2019 general election, therefore creating a scenario in which Fowler was elected to another four-year term as City Clerk and a Democratic precinct caucus needed to be held to again appoint someone in her place. Jones, carrying Mueller's endorsement, along with the endorsement of South Bend Common Council president Tim Scott, defeated her challenger in the caucus, Jill LaFountain, the director of advancement for Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana Michigan.
Mueller stated that Buttigieg had offered him much advice during the transition.
Tenure
Mueller assumed office on January 1, 2020 at noon. His ceremonial inauguration was held later that day at Century Center. He is the 33rd mayor of South Bend. Five new Common Council members were sworn-in along with Mueller. As a result of the 2019 Common Council election, the Common Council that took office alongside Mueller is the city's first majority-female Common Council. Additionally, Dawn Jones was sworn-in as City Clerk alongside Mueller.Mueller took office at a time when South Bend had been enjoying an increased national spotlight by virtue of Buttigieg's presidential candidacy.
On January 6, Mueller announced several appointments. These included Kacey Gergely as his Chief of Staff, Jordan Gathers as Deputy Chief of Staff, and Shalon “Shay” Davis as Director of Community Outreach. He also announced that he would retain a number of individuals from Buttigieg's administration in the same roles, including Aaron Perri as Executive Director of Venues, Parks and Arts, Chuck Bulot as Building Commissioner, Daniel Parker as City Controller, Denise Riedl as Chief of Innovation Office,
Eric Horvath as Director of Public Works, Kyra Clark as Director of Human Resources, Scott Ruszkowski as Chief of Police, and Stephanie Steele as Corporation Counsel. On April 1, 2020, Mueller named Carl Buchanon as fire chief.
Months into his tenure, the global COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the United States. On March 16, 2020, Mueller ordered the closing of city parks buildings, the suspension of the ability for residents to pay their water bills in-person, and the suspension of water service shutoffs for nonpayments. On March 19, Mueller declared an emergency, which automatically issued a level 2 travel advisory against all nonessential travel. In mid-April he announced that the city had leased a Motel 6 location in order to allow the homeless to have a location in which they could self-quarantine. In early April South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jeff Rea signed a memorandum of understanding with Mueller and all three St. Joseph County commissioners under which he would help lead the South Bend and St. Joseph County response to the coronavirus pandemic. In mid-April Mueller also announced that the city had pledged $600,000 for CDFI groups loaning capitals to small businesses not covered by federal grants.
Political positions
Mueller is critical of Donald Trump, declaring in his 2019 victory speech that, "Trumpism has no place in South Bend".Mueller believes that systemic racism is a problem that needs to be dealt with. He believes that it is present in South Bend, and that it is important to admit that. He does not believe that the admittance of the presence of systemic racism is about vilifying anyone, but rather, is about recognizing institutions and how they have historically and currently been discriminatory towards certain groups of people.